Court Overturns Gulf Fishing Report Rule, Reverts to 2014
Published Date: 3/25/2026
Rule
Summary
If you own or operate a charter boat or headboat with a Gulf of America fishing permit, this rule affects you! A court decision canceled a 2020 change, so NMFS is bringing back the old 2014 reporting rules starting April 24, 2026. This means you’ll keep reporting your catches the way you did before, with no new fees or surprises.
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
2014 Weekly Reporting Requirement Restored
If you operate a charter vessel or headboat with a Gulf for-hire permit, the rule formally restores the 2014 reporting rules effective April 24, 2026. Headboats selected for the Southeast Region Headboat Survey (SRHS) must submit electronic trip-level reports at weekly intervals by 11:59 p.m., local time, the Sunday following each reporting week (reporting week = Monday through Sunday). Charter vessels selected to report must submit completed fishing records weekly, postmarked no later than 7 days after the end of each week (Sunday). A report not received on time is delinquent and automatically prohibits the vessel owner/operator from harvesting or possessing the applicable species until all required delinquent reports have been submitted and received by NMFS.
Per-Trip Reports, Trip Declarations, and VMS Removed
The rule removes the 2020-era requirements to: submit per-trip electronic fishing reports and trip declarations, install and maintain an active vessel monitoring system (VMS), land at verified locations only, submit landing-location request or VMS installation/activation verification forms, and request VMS exemptions. NMFS also will not conduct the fishermen intercept survey previously used to validate program data. For the removed collections, NMFS states the estimated number of respondents, responses, burden hours, and burden cost are all zero.
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Key Dates
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